I know it’s been FOREVER since I’ve blogged. I apologize for that. Just hasn’t been a lot that has inspired me to construct some long diatribe about anything. Life as of late has been able to be summed up into a sentence at a time to post on Facebook it seems.
Today I came across a post on Facebook with an absolutely horrific picture with an equally horrific story about a poor, defenseless German Shepherd that had his face blown up by a group of boys who thought it would be “funny” to put fireworks in the dog’s mouth and duct tape it shut. Yes, it is as bad as it sounds. The picture, even worse.
I shared the link on my page, with a “warning” that, Yes, it is horrible to look at but we must and we must share because this animal and many others like it are neglected, starved, abused, beaten, dragged, killed and apparently, blown up, every day and NOTHING gets done about it. And THAT is what makes me sick.
I am an animal lover; ALL animals. The ones I have in my home are not just pets, but are my children and I would do anything for them. In the last month I had to struggle with making the decision to put my 12 ½ year old down because she was having so much trouble getting around and suffering from dementia. IT’s the hardest decision to make; to play God and decide that this dog has lived long enough. But at the end of the day I couldn’t stand to see her suffer anymore and that the best thing I could do for her was to send her off to the Rainbow Bridge. I still find myself looking for her, or thinking I hear her bark now and again and it’s a battle some days.
So to see something like this with this poor creature that probably did nothing but love be treated like a tin can does more than break my heart. It puts me in a rage. I have never understood why someone would treat an animal like this. I have also never understood why the laws are as lax as they are for such crimes. Most people, who actually get busted, IF they get busted, get a slap on the wrist if anything. That only tells me that that animal’s life does not have the same worth as a human and I completely disagree with that. Almost every serial killer, not to mention a multitude of other violent people, began by abusing and killing innocent animals. And if it’s not that far of a stretch for someone like, let’s say, Jeffrey Dahmer, to go from killing and dismembering stray animals to cutting up and eating young boys, then why aren’t the consequences more severe?
Our laws need to change. I know it’s not an easy process. Laws are put into place by people who don’t always know what is best. But it is up to us to convince them. We live in a society that is a democracy; a government of the people, by the people, right? We decide who represents us. We make it known what we want and don’t want. We protest, sign petitions and yell from the freakin’ rooftops if we have to. The point is, as humans, WE have to do something. We have to be the voice for the animals. We have to protect them the same way we would protect a child that can’t defend themselves.
I had someone post saying that most people who abuse animals were often abused themselves and that’s probably true. But does that mean the cycle should continue? Shouldn’t that cycle be broken by making the punishments more sufficient and justified?
What makes me even more angry is a person who commented on my post saying that “What point does looking and sharing this have? No point whatsoever. This is terrible. I wish I hadn’t seen it.” Well I wish I hadn’t seen it either, but I did and I can’t sit silently about it. I told this person that the point is we need to stand up and speak up for the animals because they can’t do it themselves. Then this person came back and said it was “silly” and “posting this retarded shit is not going to change anything. Shock value. What are lawmakers gonna do…the laws are already in place. Wasting my time here…poof.” And wouldn’t you know it; the post disappeared from my page and many others who shared the story.
I know it’s not easy to see. But this person proved my point: too many think that if you just turn a blind eye to it then it’s not real and it never happened and it will just go away. It’s NOT going to go away unless we do something about it. Yes laws are in place, but laws can and need to be changed by a public that demands it.
It makes me question too, did this person, or anyone else, willingly look at photos of Moammar Gahdafi with his face blown up? Or how about Saddam Huessein? Did you look at those photos and make peace with yourself about what happened to that person? Perhaps you did because you were able to justify it because those two men were murdering tyrants and deserved what they got.
So when it happens to someone, or an innocent dog, that DIDN’T deserve it, then it’s not ok to look at? It’s not okay to draw attention to it even though it’s disgraceful and completely unforgivable?
Even after WWII after concentration camps were liberated, there were people who insisted the entire holocaust wasn’t real, that it never happened. Those people were rounded up and taken on a tour so they could witness with their own eyes what had happened to some six million innocent people. Shocking? Yes. Was there a point to it? Yes.
Blindness was no longer an option. Nor should it be with this dog or any other abused animal.
